Chair, Department of Health Behavior
Division of Cancer Prevention and Population Sciences
Roswell Park Cancer Institute
Elm and Carlton Streets
Buffalo New York USA 14263
Tel: 716-845-8456
Fax: 716-845-8487
E-mail: michael.cummings@roswellpark.org

Associate Research Professor
Experimental Pathology Program (Epidemiology)
Roswell Park Graduate Division

Professor Social and Preventive Medicine
University at Buffalo

Associate Professor, Health Policy & Management
State University of New York at Albany

Dr. K. Michael Cummings joined the staff of Roswell Park Cancer Institute (RPCI) in 1981, and was appointed Director, Department of Cancer Prevention, Epidemiology & Biostatistics in 1999 and Chair, Department of Health Behavior, Division of Cancer Prevention and Population Sciences in 2002. He earned a master’s degree in Public Health (1977) and a doctorate (1980) in Health Behavior at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Dr. Cummings is Associate Research Professor, Experimental Pathology Program (Epidemiology), Roswell Park Graduate Division and Professor, Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, University at Buffalo; and Associate Professor, Health Policy & Management, State University of New York at Albany.

Dr. Cummings’ research interests focus on the health effects of tobacco, smoking cessation and tobacco use prevention. A nationally recognized authority on smoking issues, he has contributed to several United States Surgeon General’s Reports on Smoking and Health and to the Institute of Medicine’s report on nicotine addiction in children. Dr. Cummings has testified as an expert witness against the tobacco industry in a number of recent legal proceedings, including several state Medicaid cases which resulted in the Master Settlement Agreement.

Dr. Cummings is a member of many professional organizations, including the American Society of Preventive Oncology, American Public Health Association, and Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco. Dr. Cummings has authored or co-authored more than 160 scientific publications. He is Deputy Editor of Tobacco Control, a quarterly scientific journal published by the British Medical Association. He also is a member of the Editorial Board of Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention, published by the American Association for Cancer Research.

General Research Interest

Dr. Cummings's research focuses primarily on tobacco control and includes studies on tobacco product marketing, the effectiveness of tobacco control policies on adult and youth smoking behavior, and consumer risk perceptions about tobacco products and nicotine delivery devices.

The marketing to Youth Projects is a National Cancer Institute (NCI) study which uses tobacco industry documents made available through recent litigation to evalute how tobacco products are marketed to underage smokers. Thus far, over 5,400 tobacco industry documents have been collected, index and abstracted and are available for viewing on the web (www.tobaccodocuments.org). NCI funding was recently secured to support a follow-up study of the original 20,000 U.S. cohort participants in NCI's Community Intervention Trial for Smoking Cessation Study (COMMIT). Data from this study will be used to assess mortality outcomes, changes in tobacco use behaviors and exposure in response to community/state tobacco control programs and plolicies implemented since 1988.

Research on consumer risk perceptions regarding tobacco has involved studies to measure beliefs about the harm reduction potential of filtered and low tar cigarettes, novel smoking articles which heat rather than burn tobacco, and nicotine medications such as inhalers, patches and gum.

Key Publications

 

• Borland R, Yong HH, Laux FL, Siahpush M, Hyland A, Campbell, Hastings G, Cummings KM, Fong GT. Support for and Reported Compliance with Smoke-free Restaurants and Bars by Smokers in Four Countries: Findings from the International Tobacco Control Policy Evaluation Survey.  Tobacco Control (in press).
• Murphy JM, Mahoney MC, Hyland AJ, Higbee C, Cummings KM.  Disparity in the Use of Smoking Cessation Pharmacotherapy among Medicaid and General Population Smokers. Journal of Public Health Management and Practice, 2005; 11(4):341-345.
• Hammond D, Fong GT, Cummings KM, Hyland A.  Smoking topography, brand switching, and nicotine delivery:  Results from an In vivo study.  Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention, 2005; 14(6):1370-1375.
• Cummings KM, Hyland A.  Impact of Nicotine Replacement Therapy on Smoking behavior.  Annual Review of Public Health, 2005; 26:583-599.
• Bauer JE, Hyland A, Li Q, Steger C, Cummings KM. Longitudinal Assessment of the Impact of Smoke-Free Worksite Policies on Tobacco Use. American Journal of Public Health, 2005; 95:1024-1029.
• Miller N, Frieden TR, Liu SY, Matte TD, Mostashari F, Deitcher D, Cummings KM, Chang C, Bauer U, Bassett MT.  Effectiveness of a large-scale free nicotine patch distribution program. Lancet 2005; 365:1849-1854.
• O’Connor RJ, Hyland A, Giovino GA, Fong GT, Cummings KM. Consumer Awareness of and Beliefs about Potential Reduced Exposure Products. American Journal of Preventive Medicine. (in press)
• Hyland A, Li, Q, Bauer JE, Giovino G, Bauer U, Cummings KM.  Effect of state and community tobacco control programs on smoking cessation rates in adult smokers.  American Journal of Health Promotion, 2005;29(2):85-90.
• Cummings KM, Fix B, Celestino P, Carlin-Menter S, O’Connor R, Hyland A.  Reach, efficacy, and cost-effectiveness of free nicotine medication give away programs.  Journal of Public Health Management and Practice (in press)
• Hawk LW, Higbee C, Hyland A, Alford T, O’Connor R, Cummings KM.  Concurrent quit & win and nicotine replacement voucher giveaway programs: participant characteristics and predictors of smoking abstinence.  Journal of Public Health Management and Practice (in press)
• Bauer JE, Carlin-Menter S, Celestino P, Hyland A, Cummings KM.  Giving away free nicotine medications and a cigarette substitute - Better Quit® to promote calls to a quitline.  Journal of Public Health Management and Practice (in press)
• O’Connor R, Fix B, Celestino P, Carlin-Menter S, Hyland A, Cummings KM.  Financial Incentives to Promote Smoking Cessation:  Evidence from 11 Quit and Win Contests. Journal of Public Health Management and Practice (in press)
• Levy DT, Mumford EA, Cummings KM, Gilpin EA, Giovino GA, Hyland A, Sweanor D, Warner KE, Compton C.  The potential impact of a low-nitrosamine smokeless tobacco product on cigarette smoking in the United States:  estimates of a panel of experts.  Addiction (in press)
• Swede H, Bartos JD, Chen N, Shaukat A, Dutt SS, McQuaid DA, Natarajan N, Rodriques-Bigas MA, Nowak NJ, Wiseman SM, Alrawi S, Petrelli NJ, Cummings KM, Stoler DL, Anderson GR.  Genomic instability patterns of sporadic colorectal cancers depend on smoking status.  Cancer Research (in press).
• Bauer JE, Rezaishiraz H, Head K, Cowell J, Bepler G, Aiken M, Cummings KM, Hyland A. Obtaining DNA from a Geographically Dispersed Cohort of Current and Former Smokers: Use of Mail-Based Mouthwash Collection and Monetary Incentives. Nicotine & Tobacco Research, 2004; 6(3);439-446.
• Giovino GA, Sidney S, Gfroerer JC, O'Malley PM, Allen JA, Richter PA, Cummings KM.  Epidemiology of Menthol Cigarette Use.  Nicotine & Tobacco Research 2004;6(Supplement 1):S67-S81.
• Farrelly MC, Nimsch CT, Hyland A, Cummings KM.  The effects of higher cigarette prices on tar and nicotine consumption in a cohort of adult smokers.  Health Economics 2004 Jan;13(1):49-58.
• Giardina TD, Hyland A, Bauer UE, Higbee C, Cummings KM.  Which Population-based Interventions Would Motivate Smokers to Think Seriously About Stopping Smoking? American Journal of Health Promotion. 2004;8(6):405-408.
• Travers MJ, Cummings KM, Hyland A, Repace J, Babb S, Pechacek T, Caraballo R.  Indoor air quality in hospitality venues before and after implementation of a clean indoor air law - Western New York, 2003. MMWR 2004; 43 (44) 1038-41.
• Cummings KM, et al.  Are Smokers Adequately Informed about the Health Risks of Smoking and Medicinal Nicotine? Nicotine & Tobacco Research, 2004; 6(Supplement 3):S333-S340.
• Bansal M, Cummings KM, Hyland A, Giovino GA. Stop smoking medications: Who uses them, who misuses them, and who is misinformed about them.  Nicotine & Tobacco Research, 2004; 6(Supplement 3):S303-S310.
• Hyland A,  Li Q, Bauer J, Giovino G, Steger C, Cummings KM.   Predictors of cessation in a cohort of current and former smokers followed over 13 years. Nicotine & Tobacco Research, 2004; 6(Supplement 3): S363-S369.
• Borland R, Yong HH, King B, Cummings KM, Fong GT, Elton TE, Hammond D, McNeill A. Use of and beliefs about ‘light’ cigarettes in four countries: Findings from the International Tobacco Control Policy Evaluation Survey.  Nicotine & Tobacco Research, 2004; 6(Supplement 3): S311-S321.
• Fong GT, Hammond D, Laux FL, Zanna MP, Cummings KM, Borland R, Ross H.  The near-universal experience of regret among smokers in four countries: findings from the international tobacco control policy evaluation survey. Nicotine & Tobacco Research, 2004; 6(Supplement 3): S341-S351.
• Higbee C, Bauer JE, Cummings KM, Wieczoreck W, Alford T,  Hyland A.  Avoidance of smoky establishments: findings from Erie and Niagara counties in New York. Journal of Public Health Management and Practice. 10(6): 509-512, 2004.
• Levy DT, Mumford EA, Cummings KM, Gilpin EA, Giovino G, Hyland A, Sweanor D, Warner KE.  The relative risks of a low-nitrosamine smokeless tobacco product compared to smoking cigarettes: estimates of a panel of experts. Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, 2004;13:2035-2042.
• Cummings KM, Morley, Hyland A. Failed promises of the cigarette industry and its effect on consumer misperceptions about the health risks of smoking. Tobacco Control, 22 (suppl 1):i110-i116, 2002.
• Cummings KM, Morley C., Horan J, Steger C, Leavell NR. Marketing to America’s youth: evidence from corporate documents. Tobacco Control, 11 (suppl 1):i5-i17, 2002.
• Pauly JL, Mepani AB, Lesses JD, Cummings KM, Streck RJ. Cigarettes with defective filters marketed for forty years: what Philip Morris never told smokers. Tobacco Control, 11 (suppl 1):i51-i61, 2002.
• Hyland A, Garten S, Giovino G, Cummings KM. Mentholated Cigarettes and Smoking Cessation: Findings from COMMIT. Tobacco Control 11:135-139, 2002.
• Hyland A, Hughes JR, Farrelly M, Cummings, KM. Switching to lower tar cigarettes does not increase nor decrease motivation or ability to stop smoking. Nicotine & Tob Res, (in press).
• Cummings KM, Hyland A, Perla J, Giovino GA. Is the prevalence of youth smoking affected by efforts to increase retailer compliance with a minor’s access law? Nicotine & Tobacco Research (in press)
• Cummings KM. Programs and Policies to Discourage the Use of Tobacco Products. Oncogene. 21:7349-7364, 2002.
• Hyland A, Travers MJ, Cummings KM, Bauer J, Alford T, Wieczorek WF. Tobacco Outlet Density and Demographics in Erie County, New York. Am J Pub Health (in press).
• Abrams SM, Hyland A, Cummings KM. Internet cigarette purchasing among ninth-grade students in Western New York. Prev Med. 2003 Jun;36(6):731-3.
• Levy DT, Cummings KM, Hyland A. A simulation of youth initiation policies on overall cigarette usage. Am J Pub Health 90: 1311-1314, 2000
• Hyland A, Cummings KM, Siewell M. The impact of untruthful age reporting during compliance checks. J. Pub Health Management and Practice 6(3):115-118,2000
• Hyland A, Cummings KM, NAUENBERG E. Analysis of taxable sales receipts from New York city: Has the New York City Smoke-Free Air Act affected the city's restaurant business? J Pub Health Management and Practice 5(1): 14-21,1999.
• Hyland A, Cummings KM. Restarant employment before and after New York City's Smoke-free Air Act. J Pub Health Management and Practice 5(1): 22-27, 1999
• Hughes J, Cummings KM, Hyland A. Ability of smokers to reduce their smoking and its association with future smoking cessation. Addiction 94(1): 109-114, 1999.
• Hastrup JL, Cummings KM, Swedrock T, Hyland A, Pauly JL,. Consumers’ Knowledge and Beliefs about the Safety of Cigarette Filters. Tobacco Control, 2001, 10:84.